This invention related to a recently developed type of adhesive. The file folder fastener which fastens paper sheets in a file folder. It is related to a new type of fastener which is mounted on a file folder prong type fastener and uses an adhesive to engage and hold a paper sheet in position in a file folder. It is described in Arkwright U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,254 dated Dec. 8, 1992, and further described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 09/494,250 filed Jan. 31, 2002.
The adhesive fastener is a paper thin generally rectangular piece which secures a file paper in a file folder without requiring two-hole punching the paper prior to mounting it on the metal fastener prongs.
The adhesive fastener is a relatively small, flexible rectangular piece that has two space punched holes for mounting it on the prong fastener, and an adhesive strip on the underside of the adhesive fastener to bent up to access a release covering strip mounted on an adhesive strip. The upper section portion of the paper to be filed is inserted under the adhesive fastener, and the adhesive covering strip is removed. The strip of adhesive then engages the surface of the inserted paper sheet adjacent its top edge.
The adhesive fastener makes it possible to more quickly place a sheet in a file. There is no need to two-hole punch the paper document. The paper sheet can be inserted quickly. There is no need to open the metal fastener, this eliminates two-hole punching the paper to be inserted, opening the metal fastener by lifting the prongs, placing the paper on the prongs, and then bending the prongs down on the newly inserted paper sheet. The cost of the adhesive fastener in this instance is a factor which is weighed against the convenience of more rapidly inserting the paper sheet in file, or avoiding two hole defacing the inserted sheet. In the case of formal documents, such as certified court documents, or bank loan agreements ,which cannot be two-hole punched, the adhesive fastener has made it possible to secure these documents in a file folder without punching holes in them. Another factor also, is a paper secured by an adhesive fastener can individually be removed from the file without removing the file papers mounted on the prong and above it in the file.
However, where only the convenience of using the fastener is the principal factor, the cost of the fastener, has restricted its use in the general retail market.
Additionally, use of adhesive fasteners in color coded side tab shelf type-file folders was impractical. The lower edge of filed papers protruded out over a portion of the side tab. Because papers secured by an adhesive fastener are inserted in the file below the prong fastener, they are mounted lower in the file below the prong fastener, they are mounted lower in the file then papers mounted on the prong fastener. The medical industry almost exclusively uses side tab color coded side tab folders. The attempt to overcome this drawback by finding a satisfactory alternative to the prong fastener in this case led to the development of the modification of this invention. Another factor in the development was the knowledge from prior experience that an adhesive fastener split in half, as shown in my co-pending prior application, provided a fastener of sufficient strength to effectively secure and to maintain alignment of the paper filed.
Previous experience with the fastener also indicated that general acceptance of the adhesive fastener in the retail market required simplifying use of the adhesive fastener for installation of the paper sheet in the file.
Previous assumptions were that a high strength connection to the file folder was essential. However, after several years experience, it was apparent that very heavy duty connections were only required in a very small percentage of the file folders. On the basis of this knowledge, and the impetus to meet the shortcoming of the adhesive fastener arrangement in a side tab folder, it was recognized that the metal prong fastener could be eliminated.
The relatively high cost of the adhesive fasteners made it expensive to place more than several adhesive fasteners on the prongs at any one time. Consequently, the annoyance of the manipulation of prongs was not eliminated, but only reduced to some extent. Therefore, to obtain the full advantage of the adhesive fastener, a relatively large number of fasteners would have to be mounted in the file folder simultaneously, and the prong fastener eliminated completely. But most importantly, it would be necessary to substantially reduce the price of the adhesive fastener to make it practical economically to use the adhesive fastener for all papers filed.
This invention provides an adhesive fastener which can be sold to the general public for general use. Heretofore, use of the adhesive fastener had either a cost restriction or a prong mounting drawback, that resulted in confining the marketing of fasteners to special applications. For example, adhesive fasteners must be used for securing papers that cannot be two-hole punched. The features of the modified adhesive fastener of this invention provide a more user-friendly and substantially less expensive, adhesive fastener, making it practical to use with all types of papers in a file folder.
This invention features an adhesive fastener assembly with multiple fasteners which can be quickly mounted independently on a file folder. There is no reliance on prong fasteners. A contact adhesive provides sufficient holding strength. Eliminating the prong fastener as a support for adhesive fasteners removes the objection to use the adhesive fasteners for side tab shelf type folders. The support for the adhesive fasteners will be sufficient for use in most file folders.
With no need to rely on a two-hole mounting on a prong fastener, the length of the adhesive fastener can be reduced by almost half, providing a significant cost saving. The resulting lower market price, increases the sales volume sufficiently to make the adhesive fastener economically practical for widespread use.
The adhesive fastener of this invention is more user friendly than previously. This is also a factor in greater general acceptance of the adhesive fastener as a substitute for the conventional prong fastener. The ability to more readily remove the cover release piece from the adhesive fastener strip adds to convenience. The greater convenience of the adhesive fastener will affect the decision to switch from the prong fastener arrangement.
The modified adhesive fastener of this invention also results in quicker removal of a previously filed paper from the file folder. A slight pull upward on the free section below the adhesive strip of the adhesive fastener separates from the file paper. In contrast, a paper secured by a prong fastener cannot be removed from the middle of the file without removing all of the papers that are held on the prong fastener above it. When the removed file paper is to be returned to the file, it is only necessary to lift the fastener to which it had been attached and to reinsert the file paper to its previous position. This also is a large convenience which contributes to the decision to use file fasteners for all papers to be held in the file.
The modifications of this invention also provides for the unique covering and release piece. It provides the function of both a covering for the adhesive strip of the fastener and also a section which facilitates its removal, as well as upward bending of the next to be used adhesive fastener, to permit its attachment to the next paper sheet.
Accordingly, the convenience factor that favors use of an adhesive fastener, over prong fasteners is substantially increased by the modifications of this invention.
These and other features and advantages of this adhesive fastener invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when taken with respect to the following detailed description of the preferred device.